Tennessee Whiskey

Chapter 9-Mary

Chapter 9

Mary

I feel a slight pain when he thrusts inside of me. “f**k baby.” He says as he stills to let me adjust to his size. “Evan.” I moan softly. “Are you okay baby?” he asks, and I nod. “I need words baby.” He rasps. “I’m okay. Please move.” I say softly and he starts to slowly thrust in and out as his lips come back to mine. When he breaks the kiss, he puts his forehead to mine and makes love to me nice and slow. I start to tense up a little and he whispers “I got you baby. I got you.” Before kissing me again. I shake my head and start to push on his shoulder a little. He stops thrusting and pulls out of me immediately. “I’m sorry.” I whisper. “Don’t do that. Look at me Mary.” He says gently before pulling my hands from my face. “Do you want to stop?” he asks, and I shake my head no. “Then how about we switch places. You be on top, so you are the one in control?” he asks, and I nod my head yes.

He moves to lay on his back, and I move to straddle him. He cups my face and kisses me softly. “If you change your mind, just say the word baby.” He says. “Okay.” I say simply. I lift up a little to lower myself onto his still hard length and slowly take him in, to the hilt. “f**k baby. You’re perfect.” He rasps. I start to move up and down slowly. “Oh God. Evan.” I moan. “Does that feel good baby? f**k, you feel perfect.” He moans and I start moving a little faster. He starts to thrust in and out of me from beneath me and I feel myself getting closer and closer to release. “Don’t stop Evan. Don’t stop. I’m getting close.” I moan and he speeds up his thrusts. He moves his fingers to stroke my c**t and rasps “I’m close too baby. c*m for me.” Him saying this causes me to lose myself and he loses himself right behind me, inside me.

After we both find our release, he’s still inside me and I lean forward and lay my head on his chest. He wraps his arms around me and neither of us speak for a minute. “Are you okay?” he asks. I nod my head yes, but I feel the tears in my eyes and one falls to his chest. “Talk to me baby.” He says. “That’s the first time I’ve enjoyed it.” I whisper. He rubs one hand up and down my back and the other is in my hair, stroking my hair. “Did you enjoy it?” I ask. He tilts my chin up and kisses me softly before saying “Very much so. You are so f*****g perfect.” I lay my head back on his chest for another minute before he nudges me. “Let’s take a bath together.” I nod and move off of him.

We head to the bathroom, and he starts the water in the tub. “Bubbles?” he asks, and I nod my head yes. He pours the bubble bath into the tub and as soon as the water starts getting high enough, he helps me in and helps me to sit down before climbing in behind me. I lean back into him, and we are both quiet for a while before he finally speaks. “You know I’m going to marry you.” He says. “I know.” I say softly. After a few more minutes, I say “I don’t want a wedding. I mean when we do get married. I just want our family there.” I tell him. “Anything you want.” He tells me. “And I’m going to want kids someday.” I tell him. “They will be beautiful like their mother.” He tells me before kissing my shoulder, softly. Neither of us say another word for a bit. We just relax in the tub until the water starts getting cold.

After our bath, we get dressed before heading to the kitchen to eat. Jane is in there and she asks, “How are you feeling?” and I start to blush a little before Evan walks over and puts his arms around my waist and pulls me back into him. “I’m better.” I say softly. “Good. I’m glad you’re getting comfortable here.” She tells me. “Evan wants me to move in eventually.” I tell her. “Well, I would assume so since he’s planning to marry you.” She says like it’s a matter of fact. “Are you okay with that?” I ask. “Why wouldn’t I be? Honey, you are his. This is your home, even if you’re not living here full time yet. You are home.” She tells me and I smile before snuggling back into Evan’s embrace.

After we eat, we head to bed, and he holds me all night long. It’s the first time in I don’t know how long that I’ve slept with no nightmares. I don’t think I moved all night. I wake up the next morning, Evan on his back with his arm around me, my head on his chest and I just lay there, thinking. After a little bit, I feel him kiss the top of my head and whisper “Good morning, Beautiful.” I smile against his chest and whisper “Good morning.” Before looking up at him and he kisses my lips softly. “I love you.” I take a chance and whisper and he smiles softly and says, “I love you more.” Before kissing me one more time.

A little later, Evan takes me to the mission to finish getting ready for work, since I’m helping Lori now. I walk into her office and she’s putting Maggie into her baby wrap, and she smiles up at me when she sees me, and I guess I’m still a little flushed. “You okay?” she asks, and I look down at the papers in my hands and say “Yeah. I’m…I’m good.” She walks over and touches my hands and asks, “Did something happen?” I nod my head yes and say “I slept with Evan.” She pulls me into a hug, careful of Maggie between us and says “I’m so happy for you. Are you okay? Do you need anything?” she asks. “I think I’m okay. I mean, I started to tense up, but he helped me relax and let me have control and that helped me relax and enjoy it and…Lori, he was perfect.” I tell her. “That’s great but how are you after?” she asks. “I’m good, I think. I might see Kathy this evening and talk it out.” I tell her. “That’s a good idea. Might help keep things on the positive side.” She says and I nod my agreement.

After work, I head to Kathy’s office. I knock on her door, and she calls me inside. “Hey Mary. How are you?” she asks. “I was wondering if you have time for a session?” I ask. “Of course. Let’s move to the couch. Do you want some tea?” she asks, and I nod my head yes. She gets both of us a cup and we head to the couch. “Now, what’s on your mind?” she asks. “I slept with Evan last night.” I tell her. “How do you feel about that?” she asks. “I feel good about it. I don’t regret it. It was the first time I’ve ever enjoyed it, but I started tensing up a little bit.” I tell her. “How did he handle that?” she asks. “He stopped immediately and made sure I was okay and asked if I wanted to stop.” I tell her. “Did you?” she asks. “No. I told him I didn’t want to stop, and he suggested us do a position that gave me the control and after that, I was fine.” I tell her. “What about after? How did you feel then?” she asks. “I was okay. We snuggled and he told me he loved me and that he wanted to marry me. I told him I love him too and that I’m going to want kids. I thought I’d worry about not being a good mom when we talked about kids, but I know I have you, Izzy and Lori there to help me too. I know I’ll be fine.” I tell her. “That’s great. How was your art class?” she asks. “It was a little crowded and I was a little uncomfortable, but Evan knew the teacher and he suggested that we take his Saturday class because it’s smaller and that way there won’t be as many strangers around me.” I tell her. “Sounds like your man thought of everything.” She tells me. “He wants to give me a card to his account so I can get supplies and clothes and things like that when I want but I told him I couldn’t do that.” I tell her. “Why can’t you?” she asks. “Because that’s his money. Money he worked for. I know I don’t have a lot to offer him, but he loves me anyway. The last thing I want is for him to think that I’m only with him for his money.” I tell her. “Mary, he doesn’t think that at all. I’ve known Evan a long time and he just wants to take care of you. What are you going to do when you get married? Are you going to just not let him take care of you?” she asks. “I hadn’t thought about that.” I tell her. “A little advice?” she asks, and I nod. “Don’t over think things. He’s a good man and he will never hurt you. But you have to remember that you’re still healing and you’re going to have moments of weakness. Just remember that he’s there to be your safety net. He will catch you.” She tells me and I nod.

After we’re done, I head to my dorm and shower. When I get into bed, my phone goes off with a text message.

Good night baby.

Good night Evan. I love you.

I love you more.

He texts back. I smile at my phone before snuggling into bed and drifting off to sleep.

It’s the middle of the night and my phone rings. I open my eyes and wipe the sleep from my eyes before answering, seeing that it’s Lori. “Hey. Everything okay?” I ask. “Sorry to call this late but we need your help.” Lori says. That gets my attention. “What can I do?” I ask, knowing that it’s something for the mission if it’s this late. “We’re at the hospital and there’s a little girl. Her mom was murdered by her dad and there’s no family to take her.” She tells me. “What do you need from me?” I ask, still confused. “Logan and I think you would be a good fit for her.” She tells me. “Me? Are you wanting me to take her until something can be figured out?” I ask. “We were wondering if you would be open to being her guardian. She’s three years old, loves to draw and if anyone can help her it’s you.” She tells me. “Yeah. I can do that. Are you on your way here?” I ask. “We’ll be heading that way in a few. We have a few things for her, but we can get what she needs tomorrow.” She tells me. “I will be in the lobby waiting.” I tell her.

I’m in the lobby, waiting, when they walk in the door. Logan is carrying her car seat, and her backpack and Lori is holding her hand. I have papers on the coffee table with some crayons for her. “Mia, this is my best friend, Mary. You’re going to be staying with her.” Lori says and Mia looks up at me. I kneel down next to her and hold out my hand. “Hi Mia. Lori said you like to draw. So do I.” I tell her. “Would you like to draw for a minute while I talk to Lori and Logan?” I ask and she nods her head yes. I lead her over to the coffee table and she starts to draw.

I walk over to Lori and Logan and ask, “What are we doing here?” I ask. “In the morning, I will file the papers to make you her guardian.” Logan says. “We can take her tomorrow to get more clothes and get her a bed for your dorm. It’s better for her to be at the mission right now until we find out what’s going to happen to her father.” Lori says. “Has he been charged?” I ask. “They are charging him as we speak. Are you okay with this?” Lori asks. “I am. But how do I tell Evan?” I ask. “He will be fine with it.” Logan tells me. Logan moves to take her things to my dorm, and I walk over to Mia. “Hey sweet girl. Are you ready for bed?” I ask. “I have a bed?” she asks. “You’ll sleep with me tonight and then we can go get you a bed tomorrow.” I tell her. “Okay.” She says softly. I bend down in front of her and ask, “What is it, Mia?” She looks at me and asks, “Are you my new mommy?” I smile at her and ask, “Is that okay?” She looks sad and asks, “Are you going to be an angel like my other mommy?” I shake my head and say “No sweet girl. I’m not going anywhere.” I tell her before standing up. I take her hand and lead her to my dorm. I make her use the bathroom before we head to bed and as soon as we are in bed, she falls asleep quickly.

The next morning, we wake up and I take her to the kitchen to make a bowl of cereal for her and she eats while I drink my coffee. After she eats, I get another cup of coffee and she’s drawing when Lori and Logan walk in. “Mia, why don’t you go over there and play while I talk to your Aunt Lori and Uncle Logan.” I say. “Can I play with her?” she asks. “That’s fine.” I tell her and she runs over to the other girl, and they start to play. Lori and Logan sit at the table with me and ask, “How’s she doing?” I look over at her and say “She seems okay. I’m going to talk to Kathy about getting someone in here to talk to her.” I tell them. “That’s a great idea.” Lori says. Logan slides a file over to me. “Here’s the paperwork. Her father signed over his rights so she’s officially yours. Her birth certificate is in there and so are the papers showing you are her legal guardian.” He tells me. “Thanks guys.” I tell them. “Thanks for agreeing to take her.” Lori says. “I think I need this as much as she does. I know I’m young, but she needs someone that’s going to be there for her and I’m able to do that. Now just to tell Evan.” I tell them. “I think her dad is going to be on Evan’s docket.” Logan says. “He can’t see that case. If he knows I have Mia, that’s going to be a problem.” I tell them. “Well, he won’t be in front of Evan for a couple of days.” Logan says. “I’ll have him come here and introduce him. I need to tell him as soon as possible so he can decide if he still wants to be with me.” I tell them and look down at my hands. Before either of us could say anything, Mia walks over. “Don’t be sad.” I pick her up and put her on my lap and say “I’m not sad sweet girl. I’m just nervous.” I tell her. “Why?” she asks. “I have someone that I need you to meet. If I ask him to come over here tonight, would you be okay to meet him?” I ask and she nods her head yes. I take out my phone text Evan.

Can you come by the mission

after work? I need to talk to

you about something important.

Be there about six.

I look at the text and take a deep breath. “Ready to go?” Lori asks and I just nod. She takes my hand and says, “It’s going to be fine.” I nod again and take Mia’s hand and say, “Let’s go get you a bed.” She looks up at me and asks, “A princess bed?” I look at Logan and he nods. “Yes baby. A princess bed.” I say and she starts cheering and we can’t help but laugh. We get into the car and head out to get what I need for Mia.

After getting her bed, Logan helps me put it together and Lori helps put her new clothes up. “Can you tell Uncle Logan and Aunt Lori thank you?” I ask. “Thank you.” She says softly. “You’re welcome little bit.” Logan says and she smiles wide and looks at me. “Mommy, I’m little bit.” she says excitedly. “Yes, you are.” I tell her and we all laugh with her. “Evan should be here in a little while. I’m going to feed Mia and get her a bath before he gets here.” I tell them. They hug us goodbye, and I get Mia fed and get her a bath while we wait for Evan to arrive.

We are sitting on my bed, while she draws when Evan knocks on my dorm door. I look up at smile softly at him. “Hey.” I say softly. “Hey.” He says before looking at Mia, confused. “Mia.” I say and she looks up. She sees Evan and moves to sit in my lap. “Who’s this?” Evan asks. “Evan, this is Mia. Mia, this is my boyfriend, Evan.” I tell her. “Hi.” She says softly. “Hello Mia.” Evan says and then looks back at me. “Mia, you stay here and color. I’m going to take Evan in the hallway for a minute.” I tell her. “Okay mommy.” She says before moving back to her coloring book to color.

Evan and I walk out to the hallway, and he asks “Mommy?” I wrap my arms around my middle and say “Lori and Logan called me late last night telling me that they needed me to take her. Her dad is in jail right now charged with her mom’s death and she doesn’t have any other family. They asked if I would be her guardian, and I said yes. Look, I get it if you don’t want to be a part of this but she’s my daughter now and…” he cuts me off with a kiss. “Baby, it’s fine. Great even. We can raise her together. Has her father signed her over yet?” he asks. “Yeah. Logan got him to sign over his rights so she’s mine and once we find out what’s going to happen with her dad, he is getting the papers together for me to adopt her.” I tell him. “I want to marry you, Mary. When you go to adopt her, we will get married, and we both will.” He tells me. “Are you sure?” I ask. “Absolutely. Now, let’s go hang out with our daughter.” He tells me and I can’t help but smile.

We walk back into the room and move to the bed. I sit on one side of Mia and Evan sits on the other and I pull Mia into my lap. “Do you like to draw like your mom?” Evan asks and Mia nods her head yes. “I like to draw too.” Evan says. “Really? Will you draw with me?” she asks. “Of course.” He tells her and they move to the table and start drawing together. As they are drawing, Mia asks “Are you going to be my new daddy?” Evan looks at me and smiles and asks, “Is that okay with you?” She nods and says “Yeah. My other mommy is in heaven and my other daddy went away.” She tells him. “Your mom told me. But guess what.” He says. “What?” she asks. “When me and your mom get married, you two will get to move into my house and I have a big house.” He tells her. “Really? Can I bring my princess bed?” she asks. “Of course, and we can get you some toys for the house too.” He tells her. “And you know what else?” he asks, and she looks at him again. “Your mom has a whole place to herself for her to paint and make her art. We can set you up your own space in there too so you can work with mommy. Would you like that?” he asks. “Yes!” she exclaims. She looks back at me and says “Mommy, I get to draw with you. Daddy said so.” She tells me and I look at Evan and he’s smiling wide. I don’t know why I was worried.

After a little while, I tell Mia, “Baby, it’s time to clean up. It’s almost bedtime.” She looks at me and says, “Okay mommy.” Before getting down and putting her things away in the drawer that I set up for her art supplies. “I better head out then.” Evan says before walking over to me and kissing me softly. Mia runs over and pulls at his hand. He kneels down to her level and she asks. “Will you come back?” He smiles and says, “How about I pick you and mommy up and take you both to dinner?” he asks. She looks at me and I nod my head yes and she jumps up and down. “Yay! Dinner with Daddy.” Before heading to her bed and plopping down on it. “I’m going to walk him to the hallway. Get into bed and I’ll be right back to tuck you in.” I tell her and she pulls down her covers and gets into bed.

We walk to the hallway and I ask, “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” He pulls me close and kisses me softly and says “I want a big family baby. And I want that with you. She’s just the push we need to get started.” He tells me. “Okay. Um…well…if you want, we can work on getting moved into your house and I need to get her into preschool.” I tell him. “Okay. We can talk about all of that at dinner tomorrow.” He tells me. “Okay. Text me later?” I ask. “I will. I love you.” He tells me. “I love you too.” I tell him before I turn to go back into my dorm to tuck Mia in and Evan heads home.

After Mia drifts off to sleep, I finally look at her paperwork and make note of her birthday and look over the rest of the paperwork. We got most of what she needed today, and things went well with Evan. He still wants to marry me and adopt Mia with me. She is the start of our family. I get out my notepad and start making a list of things I need to do, including finding a preschool to enroll her into. I pick up my phone and text Kathy.

Can you look into a child

therapist for Mia?

I can have one here in a few

days to talk to her.

I respond with my thanks and mark that off my list. In the file is her immunization form showing that she’s up to date on her vaccines. It’s not long before my phone goes off with a text from Evan.

Hey baby.

Hey. Thanks for not freaking

out about Mia.

Baby, I said I wanted a

family. She’s ours.

Logan said that her dad would

be going in front of you.

I called him before texting you.

I’m going to recuse myself from his case.

What will happen then?

He will go in front of another judge.

But Logan said he signed over his

rights so don’t worry about anything

with Mia. No matter what, he’s

given up his rights to her. She’s ours.

That’s what I was worrying about.

Kathy is getting a therapist here to

talk to her in a few days.

That’s good baby. You’re

a good mom already.

I better head to bed.

Mia gets up early.



Goodnight baby.

Kiss our girl for me.